Biography

As a faculty member in the College of the Humanities in the Religion Program, I teach courses in South Asian Studies and Religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. My research focuses on two diverse areas. The first is the history of the Shaiva tradition in textual sources and material history particularly in relation to traditions of Skanda-Karttikeya. The second is the more recent history of the Sikh tradition in India and in the diaspora community in Canada with a focus on media representations of the community.

Research Interests

Early and medieval Hinduism

The historical development of Shaivism

Religion and Material Culture

Religion and Public Life

Fall/Winter 2019-2020 Courses

RELI 1715 A South Asian Religions (F)

RELI 2510 A Hinduism (W)

RELI 4850 A/5850 W Seminar in the Study of Religion: The media, secularism and religion in Public life in India and Canada (W)

Recent Publications

Books:

The Rise of Mahāsena: The Transformation of Skanda-Kārttikeya in North India from the Kuṣāṇa to Gupta Empires. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2012. http://www.brill.com/rise-mahasena

“Material Culture and Ruler Ideology: The Case of Huviṣka’s Skanda-Kumāra with Viśākha Coinage.” In History and Material Culture in Asian Religions, edited by Benjamin Fleming and Richard Mann. New York: Routledge, 2014: 229-251.

““Hagiography and Mythology in an American Guru lineage: The Case of Sivaya Subramuniyaswami.” In Homegrown Gurus: From Hinduism in America to American Hinduism, edited by Lola Williamson and Ann Gleig. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2013: 115-139.